Connecting Technology and Business.

15 percent of an
organization’s collective time is spent in meetings, as reported by the Harvard
Business Review. But as technologies change, workloads increase and attention
spans shorten, truly reaching your audience can be a challenge. Making use of
tools like Skype for Business (SfB) for such meetings can not only reduce the challenges
of distance and travel but also give the participants an added luxury of attending
the meeting from wherever they are – not necessarily at their office meeting
rooms. Result? More attendance. More savings in travel costs.

But there is a flipside to
this.

A major hurdle is addressing the
audience across multiple locations. Attendees might join from a conference room
at office or might connect from various enterprise or home connections.
Involving the audience and making them feel that their efforts are appreciated
will go a long way in making the meeting successful. But, this might be an
unsurmountable challenge.

Here are six tips to make
your SfB meetings and webinars more interesting and fruitful:

Send a meeting request in
advance – Use your
Outlook calendar to open a new meeting and choose a suitable date and time. You
can make use of the Scheduling Assistant for this purpose. Include all the names
of the invitees to the event one below the other. (Include also names of people
who you want to just inform of this meeting – though they might not participate
– and mark them as optional attendees). Then choose the date and the time slot
in which all required attendees are available. Optionally, add a room if you
want, to book it for your convenience. (This must be enabled already in your
enterprise). Set a reminder for the meeting depending upon the preparation time
required for the meeting.

Make joining hazel-free—Click the “Skype meeting” option to
include the auto generated hyperlink Join Skype Meeting appear in the
body of the meeting invitation. Also, include any audio bridge numbers,
participant PINs, document attachments (Optionally, include a Meeting Notes
OneNote notebook page) in the invitation. Add reusable parts of documents – if any
- that have been already shared among the users internally by clicking on the Document
Item feature. Once the invitation is received at the participants’ end, all
that he/she needs to do to join the meeting is the one-click on the Join Skype
Meeting link.

Take control of your
meeting - Make use of
the Meeting Options feature to choose who all should wait in the lobby or join
the meeting without waiting. You can also nominate / manage presenters for and during
the meeting. This will provide an uninterrupted flow to keep everyone’s
attention on the content being presented. You can also set some limitations –
disabling IM, mute attendees, block attendees’ video – only presenters can
always share audio and video.

Show, don’t just tell,
important information—Effective
visual communication is key to employee engagement in meetings. Show videos,
presentations, websites, pictures and presenters themselves—instead of a static
image that’s easy to ignore. On-site employees shouldn’t get a different
meeting experience or information from people joining the meeting from other
locations.

Allow for feedback,
comments and engagement—If
employees feel that they can’t ask questions or get involved in a meeting,
they’re likely to pay little or no attention to the proceedings. Keep watch on
the IM window for comments or suggestions flowing in. Appoint a person
(moderator?) to attend to questions from the audience so that queries can be
addressed promptly. Conduct polls at intervals to receive feedback from the
participants, to gauge the interest of the participants on the topic being
handled, whether they are following your line of thought and also to make sure
you are driving home your point.

Mind the anywhere any time any
device access - Since the
meeting attendees are given the freedom to choose which devices they use to join the
meeting, it is also more likely that you will hold their engagement through the duration
of your meeting. (It gives everyone the freedom to participate whatever works
best for them: on-the-go, at their desk or from anywhere their devices are
connected to the internet). Keep this distributed audience in mind when you are speaking and keep addressing them - if possible, by individual names - so that they feel engaged well.

Focused Inbox

Focused Inbox helps you focus on the emails
that matter most to you. It separates your inbox into two tabs—Focused and
Other. Your most important emails are on the Focused tab while the rest remain
easily accessible—but out of the way—on the Other tab. You’ll be informed about
email flowing to Other, and you can switch between tabs at any time to take a
quick look.

How does Focused Inbox work?

Focused Inbox works with you to prioritize
what's most important. What lands in Focused Inbox is based on the content of
the email (e.g., newsletters, machine-generated email, and so on) and who you
interact with most often. If you need to fine-tune your Focused Inbox, Move to
Focused and Move to Other options are available to do that.

Focused Inbox was first released on Outlook
for iOS and Android. All versions of Outlook that receive updates will soon
become Focused Inbox capable, including Outlook 2016 for Windows, Outlook 2016
for Mac, Outlook on the web, and Mail for Windows 10. You'll see Focused Inbox
once your Office 365 or Outlook.com mailbox is enabled for it.

Outlook on the web

Under When email is received, select Sort messages into Focused and Other.
The Focused and Other tabs will appear at the top of your mailbox. You’ll
be informed about email flowing to Other, and you can switch between tabs
any time to take a quick look.

If messages weren't organized the way you want, you can easily move them
and specify where all future messages from that sender should be delivered.

From your
inbox, select the Focused or Other tab, and then right-click
the message you want to move.

If moving from Focused to Other, choose Move to Other > Move
this conversation if you want only the selected message moved. Choose Move
to Other > Always Move if you want all future messages from
the sender to be delivered to the Other tab.

If moving from Other to Focused, choose Move to
Focused > Move this conversation if you want only the selected
message moved. Choose Move to Focused > Always move if you
want all future messages from the sender to be delivered to the Focused
tab.

Note:

Active Clutter users will see a prompt
inviting you to try Focused Inbox.

After switching, you'll no longer
receive less important email in the Clutter folder. Instead, email will be
split between the Focused and Other tabs in your inbox. The same algorithm that
moved items to the Clutter folder now powers Focused Inbox, meaning that any
emails that were set to move to Clutter will now be moved to Other. Any
messages already in your Clutter folder will remain there until you decide to
delete or move them.

Even if you have turned off Clutter, you’ll
receive a prompt to try the Focused Inbox when your mailbox is ready

As soon as you enable Focused Inbox,
you’ll see the Focused and Other tabs at the top of your Inbox. The more you
use Focused Inbox, the smarter it gets about how it organizes your messages.
You can also teach Outlook what matters most to you by moving emails between
Focused and Other, and setting overrides to make sure emails from certain
senders always show up in a particular destination.

Microsoft has
announced that Microsoft Azure has obtained the ISO/IEC 27017:2015 certification, an
international standard that aligns with and complements the ISO/IEC 27002:2013 with
an emphasis on cloud-specific threats and risks.

This
certification provides guidance on 37 controls in ISO/IEC 27002 and features
seven new controls not addressed in ISO/IEC 27002. Both cloud service providers
and cloud service customers can leverage this guidance to effectively design
and implement cloud computing information security controls. Customers can
download the ISO/IEC 27017 certificate which demonstrates Microsoft’s continuous
commitment to providing a secure and compliant cloud environment for its
customers.

Microsoft Azure
helps customers meet their compliance requirements across a broad range of regulated
industries and markets including financial services, healthcare, life sciences,
media and entertainment, worldwide public sector, and US federal, state and
local government.

Microsoft wants to ensure that its Office 365customers have
access to the information that is relevant for them to perform a risk assessment
on Office 365 services—on demand. Access to this information should be
seamless.

To achieve these goals, they have released
the Service Assurance Dashboard as part of the Office 365 Security and
Compliance Center, which provides you immediate access to:

Details on
how Office 365 implements security, privacy and compliance controls including
details of how third-party independent auditors perform audits to test these
controls.

Information
on how you can leverage Office 365 security controls and configurations to
protect your data.

While there are many detailed insights
provided through Service Assurance, initial customer feedback indicates that
Audited Controls are particularly helpful. The Audited Controls feature in
Service Assurance helps you to understand how Office 365 protects customers' data by
detailing:

Test
status—Status of the Office 365 controls.

Control
implementation details—Explanation of how Office 365 implements a control.

Testing
performed to evaluate control effectiveness—How independent auditors test the
effectiveness of our security, compliance and privacy controls.

Azure Backup is a service that customers can use to
back up and restore their data in the Microsoft cloud. It replaces the existing
on-premises or off-site backup solution with a cloud-based solution that is
reliable, secure, and cost-competitive. It also helps protect assets that run
in the cloud. Azure Backup provides recovery services built on a world-class
infrastructure that is scalable, durable, and highly available.

Why use Azure Backup?

Traditional backup solutions have evolved
to treat the cloud as an endpoint similar to disks or tape. While this approach
is simple, it is also limited. It does not take full advantage of an underlying
cloud platform and translates to an inefficient, expensive solution. In
contrast, Azure Backup delivers all the advantages of a powerful and affordable
cloud backup solution.

Take advantage of high availability guarantees without the overhead of
maintenance and monitoring. Azure Backup uses the underlying power and scale
of the Azure cloud, with its nonintrusive auto-scaling capabilities.

Multiple storage options

Choose your backup storage based on need:

·A locally redundant storage block blob is ideal for price-conscious
customers, and it still helps protect data against local hardware failures.

·A geo-replication storage block blob provides three more copies in a
paired datacentre. These extra copies help ensure that your backup data is
highly available even if an Azure site-level disaster occurs.

Unlimited data transfer

There is no charge for any egress (outbound) data transfer during a
restore operation from the Backup vault. Data inbound to Azure is also free.
Works with the import service where it is available.

Data encryption

Data
encryption allows for secure transmission and storage of customer data in the
public cloud. The encryption passphrase is stored at the source, and it is
never transmitted or stored in Azure. The encryption key is required to
restore any of the data, and only the customer has full access to the data in the
service.

Application-consistent backup

Application-consistent backups on Windows help ensure that fixes are
not needed at the time of restore, which reduces the recovery time objective.
This allows customers to return to a running state more quickly.

Long-term retention

Rather than pay for off-site tape backup solutions, customers can back
up to Azure, which provides a compelling tape-like solution at a low cost.

Organizations own the data they keep in the
cloud and they need to know how it is being handled at all times.

Microsoft is the industry leader in cloud
compliance for enterprise customers. With the Office 365 E5 plan, advanced
compliance is integrated into the service, so organizations can meet their
unique requirements using a single cloud service.

Microsoft recognizes that organizations want
control over access to content stored in cloud services. To maximize data
security and privacy for Office 365 customers, Microsoft has engineered the
service to require nearly zero interaction with customer content by Microsoft
employees. Access is obtained through a rigorous access control technology
called Customer Lockbox for Office 365, which helps enterprises meet compliance
obligations for explicit data access authorization. In the rare instance when a
Microsoft service engineer needs access to enterprise data, access control is
extended to you so that you grant final approval for access. Actions taken are
logged and accessible to you so that they can be audited.

Choose your language, workload, operating system

With support for Linux, Windows Server, SQL
Server, Oracle, IBM, and SAP, Azure Virtual Machines gives you the flexibility
of virtualization for a wide range of computing solutions—development and
testing, running applications, and extending your datacenter. It’s the freedom
of open-source software configured the way you need it. It’s as if it was
another rack in your datacenter, giving you the power to deploy an application
in minutes instead of weeks.

Get more choice

It’s all about choice for your virtual
machines. Choose Linux or Windows. Choose to be on-premises, in the cloud, or
both. Choose your own virtual machine image or download a certified
pre-configured image in our marketplace. With Virtual Machines, you’re in
control.

Scale to what you need

Combine the performance of a world-class
supercomputer with the scalability of the cloud. Scale from one to thousands of
virtual machine instances. Plus, with the growing number of regional Azure
datacenters, easily scale globally so you’re closer to where your customers
are.

Pay only for what you use

Keep your budget in check with low-cost,
per-minute billing. You only pay for the compute time you use.

Take a minute to think about
the applications you use, the programs you depend on and the technologies
you’ve integrated into your business. Now ask yourself these questions: If a specific
application supported my company in the past, how is it benefiting me now? Are
our programs performing in line with our desired standard? What, if anything,
am I doing to ensure my technology is not outdated? Is my vendor providing me
with resources to manage my applications? Am I really getting the maximum
business value from these solutions?

To answer these questions,
many enterprise scale organizations use established processes to manage their
technology. A technology lifecycle—or TLC—offers a systematic approach for
assessing the state of your technologies. Thankfully, this indispensable method
applies to both enterprise scale organizations and small and midsize
businesses. So whether you’re an experienced IT professional or a technological
tenderfoot, considering your TLC will yield promising, practical results.

Technology LifeCycle

Start

Introduce yourself to the
product’s benefits, programs, services and content. What’s new with the
product? Who else is using it? How does it benefit them? From training
resources to accessibility tools, analyzing your products’ perks in the early
stages of implementation will drastically influence your business practices
later on.

Decide

Select the best product for
your business. Evaluate the product to confirm its alignment with your
business’s goals. Think about both your current and future needs. Is the product
secure and compliant? Will the product scale with future growth? Can you
connect with current product users? Is there ongoing support and training for
the product? What does the future product roadmap look like? If you choose a
product that is cost-effective, yet lacks specific market advantages, you may
find yourself trailing behind your competitors.

Deploy

Connect with the product’s
customer services, including any deployment assistance programs, step-by-step
setup guidance or visual assets. These documents will serve as a roadmap for
the successful implementation of your product. Consider your strategies for
product-integration. How do you plan for successful deployment and adoption?
Can you find demos and guidance? What are the considerations for the businesses
most like yours in similar industries, at similar size and with similar
business objectives?

Manage

Discover best practices for a
successful product launch using an integrated admin console or alternative
resources. How do you configure the product? How do you manage or administrate
it? Are management and administration tools provided? How should you prepare
for change and incidents? How can you assure your data is secure and company
policies are being met? Researching practical ways for communicating the new
product to employees will result in informed, confident and empowered users.

Develop

Configure and customize the
product and integrate it within your company. Develop new and extend existing
features and functionalities. Connect the product with line of business
applications. Is development guidance provided? Are there opportunities to
learn about best practices and see how the product is being modified to solve
real business goals? Budget time for aligning your company’s goals and interests
with the product, choosing internal applications that further the interest of
your organization.

Support

Retain critical support
contacts and information to resolve issues with your deployment and management
of the product. Consider live support options including in-person, phone or
chat. These options should be balanced by online troubleshooting and guidance.
Is there a broad set of support options to help me address a range of potential
issues? Do you get appropriate and timely notifications? Can you plan for known
issues and quickly get unanticipated issues addressed?

Use

Secure the best possible
experience with your new technology for you and your end users. Invest in a
product with training and adoption options designed specifically to encourage
you and your company to further your understanding as you advance with your new
technology. Learning how to manage and sustain the product is important for
anyone in an IT or administrator role. Similarly, learning is critical for
ensuring your end users get the most from your technology investments.
Effective product usage can positively impact your business.

When assessing technology’s
impact, Microsoft has committed to the TLC. In fact, Microsoft’s whole Office
Suite is TLC–compatible, offering services, check-ins and pertinent information
that might otherwise be unavailable to businesses. Though a technology
lifecycle may be just one of the many factors a business-owner or IT
professional considers when implementing new technologies in the workplace, the
importance of securing quality products with strong business and support
services that match your business’s needs cannot be stressed enough.

Rest assured
by investing in your business, and thrive on your future success.

Many times we require a Check mark inserted in our documents. Many keep searching for this in the Webdings or Webdings fonts, then they copy and paste this in the document.

There is a quicker
way to insert Check marks - a Tick mark or a Cross mark in Word.

You should use the
character code of the Checkmark symbol. Remember that you will have to use the
numerical keypad rather than the QWERTY keyboard. There are a series of
codes that will enable you to insert these Check marks.

First you have to
change the current font to “Wingdings”

Now, hold down Alt
and use the numerical keypad (not the numbers at the top of your QWERTY
keyboard) and enter any one of the following combination of numbers:

For Ticks

ALT + 0252 (without a box) ü

ALT + 0254 (with a box) þ

For Crosses

ALT + 0251 (without a box) û

ALT + 0253 (with a box) ý

Remember to
switch back to your original font for continuing with your document.

You can also
choose the Webdings font and use the following shortcuts to insert Tick marks and Check marks:

No, the office clipboard does not hold just the last item
that was Copied (Ctrl + C) or Cut (Ctrl + X). The Microsoft Office Clipboard
holds up to 24 items at a time. Want to see the last 24 items that were clipped
in the current session? Go to the Home tab, find the Clipboard panel at the far
left and click on the dialog launcher (the diagonal arrow at the lower right of
the panel). The Office Clipboard pane opens and anything you copy to the
clipboard gets saved in the pane.

You can select any item, right-click on it, and select Paste
or Delete. You can also Paste all of them in a document at once by clicking the
Paste All button.